Streetcar Genre Context Flashcards
What genres are in the play? (4)
Tragedy
Southern Gothic
Melodrama
Plastic Theatre
What is a tragedy? (3)
Drama is centred upon one or more main character who acts in a way which proves disastrous.
There is a catastrophe which causes an emotional response
Adheres to the 3 unities: tim, place and action.
What is hamartia?
Protagonist’s error of judgement.
What is hubris?
Excessive pride.
What is anagnorisis?
Choosing to defy the claims of the gods and recognises his tragic error of judgement.
What is a tragic flaw?
A trait that is psychological that brings out their destruction.
What are features of a Greek tragedy? (5)
Male
High status
Excessive pride
Recognises their error.
Dies at the end
What are features of a Modern tragedy? (4)
Any gender
w/c or m/c
Tragic flaw
Often dies at the end but can be metaphorical.
What is the Southern Gothic genre? (2)
A literary genre that began in the late 19th century.
It’s inspiration may be because writers were part of a dying culture.
What does the Southern Gothic genre expose?
It exposes how the idyllic South was an illusion that concealed the regions dark realities of social inequality on the basis of race, gender and class.
What quote does Williams use to show the Southern genre?
“I write out of love for the South… I write about the South because I think the war between romanticism and hosility is very sharp”
What are features of the Southern Gothic genre? (6)
Uses the characters in the play to question our notions of normalcy.
The struggle of his characyers to come to terms with these cultural conflicts is presented by William as heroic.
Alcoholism
Loneliness
Physical and psychological violence
Characters suffering from varying ilness.
What is melodrama?
A play with violent actions, murder and wicked plots.
What are elements of melodrama? (4)
Where the plot and extremely dramatic, emotional events unfold and the plot itself is the most important narrative element.
Stanley (the villain)
Characters suffering from mental illness
Sexual violence at the climax.
What is plastic theatre?
A personal invention of Williams’ that was trying to challenge what American drama could look and sound like in the mid 20th century.
